Original Research | By JM Lee, KH Choi, B-K Koo et al.
BACKGROUND- Although the presence of ischemia is a key prognostic factor in patients with coronary artery disease, the presence of high-risk plaque characteristics (HRPC) is also associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. Limited data exist regarding the prognostic implications of combined information on physiological stenosis severity assessed by fractional flow reserve (FFR) and plaque vulnerability by coronary computed...
Titration of Medical Therapy for Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction
Original Research | By SJ Greene, GC Fonarow, AD DeVore et al.
BACKGROUND - Guidelines recommend that patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) have medical therapy titrated to target doses derived from clinical trials, as tolerated. The degree to which titration occurs in contemporary U.S. practice is unknown. OBJECTIVES - This study sought to characterize longitudinal titration of HFrEF medical therapy in clinical practice and to identi...
EXCELling in Left Main Intervention
Review Article | By Kirtane AJ, Bonow RO.
It can be argued that severe left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease represents the only anatomic subtype of coronary artery disease for which there is clear and unequivocal prognostic evidence in favor of coronary revascularization across the spectrum of clinical presentation—from stable ischemic heart disease to acute coronary syndrome. For decades, the standard approach to LMCA revascularization has been through coronary artery bypass graft...
Original Research | By Zlotnick DM, Ramanath VS, Brown JR et al.
BACKGROUND - Coronary bifurcation lesions are common, difficult to treat, and associated with poorer outcomes compared to non-bifurcation lesions. The Medina classification has been widely adopted as the preferred system to classify bifurcation lesions, however there have been little efforts to characterize this metric. The objective of this study was to characterize the inter-observer variability of the Medina classification and exa...
Technical aspects of the culotte technique
Expert Opinion | By Erglis A, Lassen JF, Di Mario C.
The culotte technique provides near perfect coverage of the carina and side branch ostium at the expense of an excess of metal covering the proximal end. It can be used in almost all true bifurcation lesions, but should be avoided in bifurcations when there is a large mismatch between the proximal main branch and the side branch diameters. The main disadvantage of this technique is that rewiring of both branches through the stent struts is requir...
Original Research | By Y Ueki, A Karagiannis, C Zanchin et al.
OBJECTIVES - This study sought to validate European Society of Cardiology guideline-endorsed high-risk features of stent-related recurrent ischemic events for the prediction of ischemic and bleeding outcomes including a stratification according to the PRECISE-DAPT score estimated bleeding risk. BACKGROUND - The 2017 European Society of Cardiology–focused update on dual-antiplatelet therapy endorsed hi...
Clinical Trial | By Ferenc M, Ayoub M, Büttner HJ et al.
AIMS - Previously, we reported that the nine-month angiographic result after treatment of coronary bifurcation lesions with provisional T-stenting was not significantly different from that with routine T-stenting. To compare long-term clinical outcomes of the two stenting strategies, we extended the follow-up of our study on bifurcation stenting. METHODS AND RESULTS - One hundred and one patient...